When I’m running, more so than when biking and swimming, is when I have my deepest philosophical thoughts. I normally like to exercise in the morning. It is a normally a huge challenge for me to get motivated enough to get out the door after work when I’d rather just hang out with the family and relax after what are typically long and exhausting days.
This week was a little different in that my wife and son are on their spring break and went to visit my sister-in-law for the week. This left my afternoons more open and gave me the opportunity to get outside and get some training in after work a couple of times this week. Even though there was no family to come home to in the afternoon, it was a very busy week at work and the last thing I felt like doing this week was going out for a run. I’m glad that I did.
I ended up thinking about discipline during my run. Not my discipline but how do I make sure I’m teaching teaching discipline to my son? This led me to a deeper question which is how do you teach discipline to anyone? Up to this point I think the only way that I have tried to teach discipline to my son is by example. I don’t know if it is possible to tell how well it is working. It seems like such a relative behavior. One person’s perception of discipline may be over the top while another may view that same person’s discipline as poor. I sometimes view my own discipline this way. Most people think I’m disciplined whereas I feel I have a long way to go before I feel that I’m truly disciplined.
I suppose the more I learn about discipline within myself, the better I’ll be able to pass that onto my son.
Dave Criswell 